Stats for Stories: U.S. Population Clock Hits 325 Million

May 7, 2017

U.S. Population

The U.S. population clock is based on a series of short-term projections for the resident population of the United States. This includes people whose usual residence is in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These projections do not include members of the Armed Forces overseas, their dependents, or other U.S. citizens residing outside the United States.

The projections are based on a monthly series of population estimates starting with the April 1, 2010 resident population from the 2010 Census.

At the end of each year, a new series of population estimates, from the census date forward, is used to revise the postcensal estimates, including the population clock projections series. Once a series of monthly projections is completed, the daily population clock numbers are derived by interpolation. Within each calendar month, the daily numerical population change is assumed to be constant, subject to negligible differences caused by rounding.

Population estimates produced by the U.S. Census Bureau for the United States, states, counties, and cities or towns can be found on the Population Estimates web page. Future projections for the United States and states can be found on the Population Projections web page.

The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program produces estimates of the population for the United States, its states, counties, cities and towns, as well as for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its municipios. Demographic components of population change (births, deaths, and migration) and demographic characteristics (age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin) are produced at the national, state, county, Puerto Rico Commonwealth and muncipio levels of geography. In addition, housing unit estimates are produced for the nation, states, and counties.